We had already given our “Golden Award” to In Win Maelstrom because of its good cost/benefit ratio. Ironclad comes with the same price tag and improves a few things (air filter on the bottom panel, screwless mechanism for holding expansion cards and adapter for installing SSD’s) and therefore we have a winner.

Strong Points

• Up to ten 120 mm fans can be installed.
• Meshed bay covers with air filters for improving airflow.
• Meshed slot covers for improving airflow.
• Hole for CPU cooler back plate installation on the motherboard tray.
• Together with Maelstrom, it has the highest number of connectors we’ve seen on a single case: two eSATA ports, four USB ports and one FireWire port.
• No sharp edges where you could cut yourself while building your PC.
• Side panels with foam to absorb noise.
• Excellent screwless mechanism for installing drives.
• Very good number of hard disk drive bays (six or seven, if the 5 ¼”-to-3 ½” adapter is used) that should please even the most demanding user.
• Adaptor for installing an SSD on a hard drive bay.
• Air filter for the power supply.
• Individual screwless retention mechanisms for holding expansion cards.

Weak Points

• No holes for routing cables behind the motherboard tray.
• No speed controller for the fans.
• No noise-absorbing mechanism for the hard drives.